Metro Tunnel marks latest milestones

The Metro Tunnel Project has reached the three-quarter stage of tunnelling and passed a key milestone as the tunnel entrances take shape.

The eastern entrance at South Yarra has been completed more than five months ahead of schedule and the breakthrough has begun to connect the new structure with the nine-km-long twin tunnels.

The work to create the entrance also included widening the existing rail corridor, excavating more than 31,000 cubic metres of rock and soil, and building a base slab, internal walls and roof slab using more than 7700 cubic metres of concrete and almost 8000 tonnes of reinforced steel.

Acting Premier James Merlino and Minister for Transport Infrastructure Jacinta Allan visited the South Yarra site on Thursday, March 11 where crews have spent the past two years building the tunnel entrance.

A section of the nearby tunnel boring machine retrieval shaft – where TBMs Millie and Alice were retrieved after tunnelling from Anzac Station late last year – has been demolished, connecting the tunnels to the entrance structure for the first time.

When the Metro Tunnel Project is complete in 2025, a year ahead of schedule, Cranbourne and Pakenham line trains will enter the tunnel near William St before travelling west underground below Toorak Rd and St Kilda Rd to the new Anzac Station.

Other construction taking place during 2021 includes an underground substation at the South Yarra Siding Reserve and rail systems equipment rooms at Chambers St, as well as landscaping at the reserve and Lovers Walk to restore these areas as public open space.

Ms Allan said, “As Victoria recovers from the global pandemic, getting on with projects like the Metro Tunnel supports and creates thousands of jobs at a time when we need them most.”

The Metro Tunnel will save commuters up to 50 minutes a day on their journeys when up to 48 trains enter and exit the tunnel each hour.

The western entrance to the tunnel at Kensington is also nearing completion, and when finished, the Metro Tunnel will directly connect the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines in the east through to the Sunbury line in the west.

As part of the rail revolution in the west, the key transport hubs of Footscray and Sunshine stations will continue to grow in importance with more trains and travel choices from projects such as the Metro Tunnel, Sunbury Line Upgrade and Melbourne Airport Rail •